Shoulder-fired guns such as shotguns and rifles kick (i.e., recoil) when the gun is fired. Particularly if the gun is one of larger caliber, or is fired automatically, or if a round of wildcat or other ammunition of heavier charge is fired, the magnitude of the recoil can be large enough to throw off the shooter's aim and can even lead to serious injury.
A variety of gunstock-mounted pads designed to mitigate this problem are commercially available, and many others are described in the patent literature and elsewhere. Previous solutions to the kick problem are less than satisfactory, in a major respect because they are not equipped to handle the particular type of vibrations set up in the stock when a gun is fired. Instead, their design is predicated on the erroneous assumption that “cushioning” is the best, if not the only, way of reducing recoil.
“Cushioning” devices are less than satisfactory because they do not focus on the phenomenon—impact—which is felt as a kick by the shooter when a firearm is discharged. Impact is a particular phenomenon in the general field of shock and vibration. An important characteristic of an impact is the presence of relatively large forces (or shock) at points of contact. In contrast to vibration, mechanical shock is of relatively short duration (a few milliseconds in the case of a firearm firing smokeless powder) and dies away rapidly. Cushioning, by itself, is not capable of dealing with these short-duration, high-magnitude shock vibrations to an extent necessary to provide the wanted reduction in kick or recoil.
The search for an effective recoil reducing firearm accessory continues.